It’s not uncommon for young or less experienced real estate agents to face a long road to success.
What these Realtors lack in database, sphere of influence and initial brand recognition can be made up for in innovation and technology savvy, one Realtor mega agent says.
Robert Bairstow, who will be serve as one of four panelists of Southeastern mega agents at the Alabama Residential Real Estate Conference & Expo on May 4, says staying on the cutting edge of technology can give new and younger agents a leg up on some who have been in the business for decades.
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Bairstow said not all agents with 20 to 30 years of experience utilize technology to its full potential.
“There’s such a huge push for new technology in real estate and new inventions,” Bairstow said. “Take drone shots for example or drone videos. That may not be something everybody has adopted, but if you can be on the cutting edge of that (that’s a positive).”
Bairstow has been in the real estate business for just two years, working most recently with the Jere Metcalf team at Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. Bairstow closed a little over $5 million his first year in the business, and in the first four months of 2017, he is just shy of $9 million in sales volume.
The young agent said there are challenges to getting started, but most of those challenges can be turned into positives, such as being able to do something unique in the marketing department that no one else is doing.
“Zillow allows us to post ‘coming soons,'” he said. There’s probably four or five agents in Atlanta do that right now. Very few agents are doing that, but that’s where buyers are looking, and they go to their agent and they’re saying ‘did you see this?’ And the agent is saying ‘no’ because they don’t look at Zillow. They look at the MLS in their county.”
Bairstow said he and Metcalf spend a lot of time getting their name out to the public, whether it’s hosting local events in the community or interviewing other top agents from around the country and the globe on their podcast.
“The more you can get in front of people in the community, with brand recognition, the more power that gives you,” Bairstow said.
